Hey, everyone! Whew, things have been crazy busy so it's been hard to find time to write but I'm back with chapter 21!
Ohhh man, I hope you like it! I'm excited! Let me know if you catch the little reference I made to another movie in there lol
Warnings for this chapter (content gets a little dark, y'all!): blood and graphic violence, forced injectable drug use, description of drug induced delirium
Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty One: What You Deserve
Nora tried to slow the racing of her heart. Her anxiety had been building all evening but she managed to keep herself relatively calm, despite the situation she put herself in. She wanted this. Sal was overdue for a taste of his own medicine and she'd always regret it if she didn't help give it to him. She waited with Joker in Maroni's suburban safe house, closets and hallways full of clowns crouched like soldiers behind enemy lines, ready to ambush.
Across town, Override had arrived at the docks to meet Maroni and his father along with a couple more drivers. Nick's finger hovered over the button on his radio as he watched from a nearby car. The radio on the receiving end was clutched in Q's hand, waiting in a large SUV loaded with more of Joker's men, identical to the one Override drove. They idled in an alley off of the route to the safe house. Waiting was the worst part. Minutes might as well have been hours as the itch to make a move twitched Nick's finger.
"There he is! Didn't chicken shit out after all?" his father, Toni Zucco, called to Override as he climbed out of the back seat of a luxury town car that pulled up moments earlier.
Override closed the drivers side door and replied, "No, sir. I'm here."
"Well you're here, now ya gotta follow through," said Zucco.
"Christ, you're a pain in the ass, ain'tcha?" Maroni groaned getting out of another car. "Can we just do this? Come with us, kid."
He swallowed thickly and followed the men and their group of goons onto a cargo boat secured at the dock. Past stacks of shipping containers, they entered the bridge through a rusted door and walked down a damp set of stairs. Their footsteps echoed off the metal walls of the narrow hallway leading to a dimly lit room. Override's heart sank into his stomach at the sight of over a dozen girls and young women guarded by a large bearded man with an automatic rifle.
"Bout time you showed up," the man spoke with a thick southern accent.
Maroni scoffed and replied, "Shut up, Clem, we're on time. This what we got?"
"Yep, this is it. Any more and we'd be sniffed out by the cops in no time," Clem answered.
"Don't you worry about that, you leave the cops ta me, got it?" Maroni snapped.
The man tensed his jaw beneath his long beard and looked away from Maroni like a scolded child as he nodded.
Zucco looked to Override with a scowl on his face and said plainly, "We're dividing 'em up, you get five. Drive 'em to the safe house. Straight to the safe house, on the route behind Sal, no detours."
Override gazed back, returning the dirty look as he held back his urge to slap him, then he nodded slowly. His father broke their gaze to leave the room and head back up the stairs.
"A'right, let's do this," said Maroni.
Joker swayed impatiently in place, surrounded by ostentatious furniture and paintings in the front room of the safe house. The site of him in his dirty purple coat and smeared clown make up standing in that horrendously tacky room would be funny if the tension in the air wasn't so thick.
Nora focused on taking even breaths as she set her medical bag on top of the grand piano in the corner of the room table and sat on the bench. Then she pulled a small, clear vial from one of the bag's pockets. Ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic. She chose it for Maroni. If he thought that he could humiliate her, treat her like a caged animal, and expect her not to bite back, he was very mistaken. She stuck a needle-tipped syringe into the rubber stopper and pulled out a generous dose, the heat of eminent reprisal rising up in her chest. Just try to stay calm.
As she replaced that cap over the needle, the radio in Joker's hand crackled before Nick's voice said over the static, "The kid's on the move. We're in position."
"Like a fly to the spider's web," Joker murmured to himself before answering into the radio with a chuckle, "Ok, take it a-way, Saint Nicholas. Bring me somethin' nice, I've been reeaal good this year."
Nora chuckled softly, practically hearing Nick's eyes rolling over the radio.
Joker looked at her and stepped toward her to offer his hand. She took it for him to pull her up from the bench and she looked into his eyes, fiery yet composed. He thrived on this sense of impending violence. It served its purpose, its the one thing people will always understand and violence always begets violence. The cycle just keeps going. If you ignore it, that only makes it more powerful. He pushed it forward while everyone one else scrambled to pull it back, trying to stop it from turning, wanting to make it go away, pretending it isn't there. But it's there and it won't go away, whether they want to face it or not. Men like Maroni, they feed off of that too. But greed overshadows it, blinding him to the threat in right front of him in a purple coat and clown paint.
Override swallowed thickly as he rounded the SUV to open the driver's side door. He paused with his fingers on the handle, watching Maroni lower himself into the back seat of his town car before opening the door and climbing inside to follow him while the other drivers split up on their own routes.
"Kinda small for bein' Toni's boy, ain't ya?" the man Maroni called Clem said from the passenger seat.
Override's brow furrowed and he turned off the radio in his jacket pocket as he kept his eyes on the steering wheel in front of him.
"I guess so," he replied plainly.
He wasn't expecting his father to send one of his men with him. He clearly didn't trust him. The hulking man weighed at least fifty pounds more than him and if he was going to get away with this, he had to improvise. Hero or villain, his time on both sides must have left him with something he could use, if only he could think of it.
He shifted his gaze to adjust the rear view mirror, making eye contact with one of the young women in the back. His heart sped up as he tried to hide the worry creeping onto his expression and focused back on the road ahead. They were only a mile away from where Q was waiting. Options were few and he was rapidly running out of time. His fingers grazed the handle of the gun Joker had given him in his pocket and his breath quickened.
Without a second thought, he grabbed it by the barrel and swung it toward Clem's face as hard as he could. Before he could react, the butt of the gun cracked against the large man's temple, rendering him unconscious for his body to slump toward the passenger's door as the car filled with shouts and screams.
"No, no, no it's ok! No, I'm here to help!" Override called out over the alarm of the women in the car, struggling to keep from running up on the curb.
The screaming quieted to panicked huffs and whispers as he straightened the steering wheel and ripped the radio from his pocket to turn it on.
"Goddammit, kid! Fucking answer!" Nick's cursing blared out of the speaker.
"I'm here, I'm here! Just hit a little snag," Override panted into the radio in reply.
A moment of static passed before Nick answered, "Christ, I don't wanna know, we clear to send in the tail?"
"Yes! Yeah, do it!" Override replied quickly, looking into the rear view mirror.
The look-alike SUV quickly pulled out an alley a few blocks behind him, accelerating to close the distance between them. Soon Override could see Q behind the wheel in the mirror.
"Ok. Get ready and give us the go ahead when it's time," said Nick.
Override forced his eyes back to the road and eased up on the gas pedal, creating more space between him and Maroni's town car ahead as they approached a major intersection. Sweat began to drip down his brow as the traffic light turned green ahead and he lifted the radio up to his mouth.
Once Maroni's car passed through the intersection, Override pressed the button and shouted, "Now!"
As he crossed into the street, a semi truck raced through the red light to come to a sudden halt in front of him. The tires squealed over the sound of shocked screaming from the back seat when he slammed on the brakes and blared the horn as Q's car quickly swerved around the truck from behind him, drawing out the sound until it was out of sight to take his place behind Maroni.
Once they came to a stop, Override closed his eyes and panted with with head against the headrest for a moment as the truck driven by Joker's men pulled away. His eyes flew open when Clem began to stir next to him and he reflexively grabbed his gun to swiftly knock the man into unconscious once again. The air fell eerily still and quiet as he caught his breath before slowly turning around to look into the back of the car.
Wide eyes stared back at him as he swallowed and asked, "Um, everybody ok?"
Some of the women appeared confused while others were still in shock until a blonde haired teenager closest to him nodded and said softly, "Yeah, I… I think so."
"My name's Adam, I um, I'm here to get you out of this," he replied.
Horns honked from the traffic held up around them and Override flinched before promptly stepping on the gas to turn down the street.
"Override's gone, I got a tail on Maroni," Q said over Joker's radio.
Joker licked his teeth and smirked. Ten minutes until show time. Down in the basement, a couple of his men switched off the power, shrouding the house in darkness.
Nora took deep breaths and blinked her eyes as they adjusted to the dark. In the shadows, she could see the white outline of Joker's painted face as he looked toward her. To anyone else, that face inspired nothing but terror. But to her, it felt like home. A warped sense of the word, but home nonetheless. Right where she belonged, between J and the rest of the world.
She stepped toward him as her vision began to sharpen. They gazed at each other in the pale light coming through the window, a dark grin forming on Joker's face. His jovial excitement despite the cruel and illicit nature of their purpose there struck something in her. A thrill, a heightened awareness of the oh so satisfactory revenge that awaited her as she her fingertips grazed the syringe in her pocket. As unsettling as that should be, she didn't feel it. Her anxiety started to melt away as her lips curled into a grin to match his.
The house was deadly silent when Maroni's driver unlocked the door. Foot steps thudded on the Persian rug and the door shut as a frustrated grunt could be heard along with the unproductive flick of a light switch.
"What the fu—" Maroni suddenly stopped when the sound of eerie music being played on the piano in the corner filled the air. The click of a gun being cocked preceded the flash from the barrel as it was fired into the darkness. In the blink of an eye, the room was alight with shots fired in retaliation from all directions while Joker sat at the piano and continued to play. The music almost drowned out the pained cries from the faces illuminated by gunfire. Blood splattered on the wall as Maroni's goons on either side of him hit the floor, leaving him standing there alone. Joker laughed as Sal huffed and stumbled over their bodies in a panic, groping for the bannister behind him in the dark. Once his hands found the wood railing, he hurried up the stairs. The second floor hid an army of clowns armed with knives that jumped out of corners and closets like a carnival haunted house as he ran down the long hallway, shouting and blindly firing the gun he'd pulled from his belt to no avail until the clip was empty.
"Fuck!" he shouted, fumbling with the doorknob to a room at the end of the hall, the horde of clowns closing in on him.
He managed to finally throw the door open, entering the room and slamming it behind him in a panic. He bolted the lock and turned around to freeze at the sight of a group of clowns standing silently in front of his shattered gun cabinet. They had his stash of shotguns and several automatic rifles slung over their shoulders, some now aimed at him.
Sal shook his head, sweat collecting on his furrowed brow as he tried to keep his composure, and said, "No. No, no, no. This 'ain't goin' down like that."
The clown in the middle of the group stepped forward, a Glock in their hand aimed at Maroni's chest. They approached him until he was backed up against the wall, breathing heavily with his eyes on the expressionless mask staring back at him. His breath huffed as the hollow eyes remained fixed on him while the clown reached into their pocket, pressing the gun to his temple. Then the mask was suddenly lifted and Maroni's eyes widened as he came face to face with Nora.
"You know, you're right. I had something else in mind too," she said.
Before he could react, she pulled the syringe from her pocket and stabbed the needle deep into his thigh. He cried out as she forced the plunger down, pushing the drug into his muscle. Nora then stepped back, letting Maroni fall to his hands and knees.
"You crazy bitch! What the fuck is wrong with you? What'd ya just give me?" he shouted at her, his arms beginning to tremble beneath his weight.
Nora sat on top of the desk in the center of the room while the other clowns remained still with guns aimed on Sal and she checked the time before answering cooly, "Just a little something to help you relax. Should take about five minutes."
Maroni panted then suddenly emptied his stomach onto the floor. He spat then lifted his head to say, "Guess I shouldn't be surprised you'd do some shit like this. Since you're… fucking the freak."
She returned his scowl, her heart beginning to pound in her chest. She knew better than to pay any mind to his words, spoken in his futile desperation to regain control. But that didn't stop the twinge of anger building up inside her. She resisted engaging with him and stayed silent, watching the time for the drug take affect as he hung his head and heaved once more.
"I'm on my way to the station!" Override's voice called over Nick's radio.
Nick smiled to himself, he was beginning to like that kid. Honest and endearing, hard to come by in a city like Gotham. Probably wouldn't last. "Ok, I got chasers on the other drivers, shouldn't take long," he replied.
The other two, seemingly inexperienced, drivers transporting girls for Maroni foolishly didn't notice that they had been followed along their respective routes. The cars tailing them were driven by a group of men and women known for their skills in Gotham street racing that Joker had hired, joined by some of his men. He wasn't a man lacking in resources. They flanked each of vehicles on either side, waiting to make their move like lions stalking their prey.
Nick picked up another radio and said, "A'right. Go get 'em."
Once given the go-ahead, the drivers donned their clown masks and sped up to overtake the SUVs, forcing them to pull into alleys where Maroni's drivers where left beaten on the pavement and replaced by clowns. In a matter of minutes, the cars had been intercepted and were headed toward MCU to be dropped off without a trace.
Q and his group of goons arrived at the safe house just behind Maroni and quietly took their places in the living room to swiftly catch Zucco off guard at the door. As it opened, the lights switched on and he was seized, his arms forcibly tied behind his back as the men accompanying him had their throats cut. He was forced to his knees on the rug, panting and struggling against his restraints until he saw brown shoes with blood stained pinstriped pants walking toward him across the carpet and he stopped, slowly lifting his head to look at the looming figure. Zucco's face turned a shade paler when he was met with the sight of Joker's red smile smirking at him.
"Hello there," Joker said.
The mob boss glared at him, steeling his expression to hide the fear twisting his stomach before replying coyly, "I haven't had the pleasure yet, what an honor it is to meet the clown prince. You're just as ugly as I thought you'd be."
Joker cackled loudly and responded with a hand to his chest, "Why thank you. Same to you, uh, Toni. Mister Zucco, Maroni's favo-rite lackey, teacher's pe-t. Tell me, how does it taste? Maroni's ass? You know, since you spend so much time, ah, kissing it."
Zucco yelled obscenities and fought against the grip of the clowns on either side of him until one of them pressed the barrel of a gun to his head. "What do you get out of this anyway?" he shouted, forcing the question out as he felt the cold steel press against his temple.
"Ohhh aside from your just love-ly company, it's a favor for a, uh, frien-d," Joker answered, with a grin.
Toni furrowed his brow then suddenly snarled, "That little fuckin' PRICK! I'm gonna beat that kid to within an inch of his life and cut his goddamn tongue out! Did he hire you?"
Joker raised his eyebrows and rolled his eyes to the ceiling before he said, "Mmm, well it's more the other way around."
"What?" Toni shouted, his face twisting with infuriated confusion.
"Ohh yes, Toni, your on-ly son works for me now. The kid's got talent. Didn't know that did ya?" Joker mocked as he stepped closer and lowered himself to one knee in front of the scowling man.
"Ya know, I have talent too," he grumbled clicking open a switch blade from his pocket. Zucco glanced at it and his face fell, eyes widening.
"Youu, you don't have any talent do ya? Hm? Just a slimy, thirsty little leech sucking away till you're nice 'n fa-t," Joker continued, slowly sliding the blade into Zucco's mouth as his jaw trembled.
"Let's see how much the little leech bleeds," he growled before ripping the knife through his cheek.
Zucco screamed through his mangled cheek as blood streamed down his chin. Then Joker swiftly grabbed the back of his neck and moved the knife to slit his throat, letting him fall to the floor, the gurgle from his throat falling silent. He casually wiped the blood from his knife on Zucco's shirt, then slowly stood and licked his lips before heading for the stairs.
"You… You're… You're nothin' but a… a freak like him," Maroni slurred as his head lulled to the side where he was slumped against the wall in the room upstairs. He was becoming increasingly incoherent as the Ketamine in his system affected his brain. A knock at the door echoed in his ears and his blurred vision caught sight of a purple coat.
Joker looked at Maroni then back at Nora and chuckled. "You, doll, are just… formid-able. I liike it," he said huskily as he approached the desk where she sat to stand between her legs.
She smirked back at him before he took her face in his hands and pulled her forward for a deep kiss. Maroni groaned from the floor once they parted lips and Joker blinked before turning toward him.
He grinned and knelt down close to Maroni's face to say in a teasing tone, "What's the matter, hm? Like whatcha see, uh, Sal?"
Maroni grimaced and jerked his head to try to get away from Joker, the movement causing him heave with another wave of nausea, which Joker found to be outrageously funny as he laughed in his face. Suddenly, his vision faded and a sensation like he was floating over his own body came over him. In a panic, he tried to grab hold of something, anything to keep him from drifting upwards but he couldn't move. He only cried out as visions of clowns with blood dripping from their mouths came into view and he tried to close his eyes to hide from them but he couldn't tell if his eyes were already open or closed.
Nora sat and watched Maroni begin to enter the dissociative state that came with high doses of Ketamine. He laid still on the floor with his eyes rolling back and forth as terrifying hallucinations, sense of powerlessness, and an out of body delirium took hold of him. She didn't feel sorry for him. Not after what he'd put her through. This was what he deserved.
A bucket of water was dumped over Maroni's head, startling him out of his dazed state to find himself in a dark cement walled room, wrists and ankles zip-tied to the metal chair he sat in. He panted and pulled at his wrists, the shock of the cold water and his hands tied behind his back making it more difficult to breathe.
"Where are you, you fuckin' coward?" he spat into the darkness.
The harsh lights flicked on and he squinted at the figures seated at a table across the room. Joker held out a lit match for Nora to lean forward and light her cigarette as he stared blankly at Maroni.
"Naah c'mon what's this bullshit? If you're gonna kill me just do it," Maroni groaned.
Joker snorted out a laugh and replied, "Wellll that wouldn't be any fun, would i-t?"
Then Maroni noticed the video camera, it's red recording light blinking, set up on a tripod in front of him and he swallowed thickly.
"We're gonna put on a show, Sal, and you're the star! Are you ready for your close u-p?" Joker taunted.
Nora chuckled while Maroni hung his head to his chest. He took a few attempted deep breaths before lifting his head and saying casually, "Ya know what? How bout we call it square? I took her, then you killed my men and massacred my club. Square."
"HA! Ohhh, Sally boy. This is about more than tha-t. Though that little stun-t was a verrry poor choice on your part," Joker chuckled darkly. "You and I have another score to, uh, settle."
Maroni furrowed his brow and asked, "What fuckin' score?"
"What a weasel you aaare. A forgetful one at tha-t. Let's see, I'll give you a hint," Joker answered, rolling his eyes. "What has nothing but a head and a tail?"
"Fuck you," Maroni mumbled in response.
Joker laughed and said, "Wrong answer! A coin, Mar-oni. Money. Something you'll do just about anything for, hm?"
Maroni glared at him, meeting Joker's dark stare with his own.
"Go on, say i-t," he said, stepping closer to the chair. "Isn't that where this alll started? How much did it cost ya to pay off all those cops, hm? Didn't quite go as, uh, planne-d, did it? You tried to hand me over to your cops, I burned your money. Don't think I didn't know, Sal."
After her rescue, Joker told Nora the origins of his feud with Maroni, aside from his distaste for the mob in general. Maroni he particularly despised for his attempt to lead police to the warehouse where he held the mob's stolen money ransom months ago, during his elaborate take down of Batman and Harvey Dent, by giving the location to Commissioner Gordon.
"A'right, so I tried to give ya to the PD when you had the cash. Is that what the fuck this is all about?" Maroni yelled before dropping his chin back to his chest.
"Just the tip of the iceberg, my Italian friend!" Joker exclaimed. "It isn't just that, Sal. You've always been a useless little squealer, haven't you? All the way back to when you crawled out the mud and into that i-vory tower of yours."
Maroni lifted his head to then find himself inches away from Joker's face. "What're you talkin' about?" he asked begrudgingly.
Joker's lips pulled into a grin and he said jovially, "It's a funny little story that goes like this. Commodus, the jealous and corrupt son of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, was never good enough in his father's eyes. Unfit to rule, a threat to the empire, he said. What does poor Commodus do?" He paused to pull a knife from his pocket. "He kills his dear old dad to take his place on the throne. Patricide. Now that's something you'd know a thing or two about, hm?"
Color drained from Maroni's face before Joker firmly gripped a fistful of his hair and stood to the side. Through his shouts of pain, nerves on fire after the effects of the anesthetic, Joker roughly turned Maroni's head toward the camera and taunted, "How's about a confession? Get it off your chest, old pal, you'll feel better."
Sal only gritted his teeth as Joker stared at him. "Ahh, cam-era shy, hm? Looks like he needs some encourage-ment," Joker growled, letting go of his hair. Suddenly, the knife in Joker's hand was plunged into Maroni's thigh where he left the handle standing straight up.
Maroni screamed and squeezed his eyes shut as he pulled against his restraints until Joker grabbed him by the hair once again. Then he leaned in toward his ear and grumbled in a low voice, "Y'know, I haven't forgotten what you did to her either. It's alll on the table now."
Maroni opened his eyes to see Nora approaching him as she finished her cigarette. "We gotta do something about your face, Sal," she said. "You're so pale, you need a bit more color."
Before he could respond, Nora's fist came crashing against his temple, his teeth clacking and ears ringing from the sudden impact. She continued to beat him mercilessly, then after another round of severe punches to the other side of his head she stepped back and swung her leg for a final blow to his jaw, leaving his face a bloodied mess. The immense satisfaction she got out of treating him like her own human punching bag was almost scary. But it wasn't unexpected. She was tired of getting stepped on, after all, and Joker knew that. She had potential, he said. She'd taken the final step over the line between helpless passivity and rightful lex talionis.
Joker cackled with glee as Maroni caught his breath and spit blood into his lap. "Now that's better!" he laughed. Joker's gloved finger spread the blood from Sal's split lip up his cheeks into a big, red smile and he asked, "Ya havin' a good time yet, Sally?"
Maroni panted then screamed, "What do you want from me?"
"You need to get your ears checked, hm? A confession!" Joker answered.
"What?" Maroni cried, bloody saliva hanging from his lip.
Joker leaned in with one hand on the back of the chair and the other gripping the handle of the knife stuck in Maroni's leg. "Tell 'em, Sal. Tell 'em all what really happened to Luigi Maroni," Joker said loud enough for the camera before swiftly twisting the knife while Nora watched straight-faced.
Sal hollered in pain then managed to spit out, "Tell who?"
A giggle preceded Joker's answer, "Your adoring fans! So thick, aren't ya? Your mafia pals. The, ah, fam-ily if you will."
Maroni fell silent and stared straight ahead into the camera, breathing heavily with the realization of what was about to happen. Then his face twisted into a scowl and he screamed as he suddenly jerked his body violently in the chair, flinging the knife out of his leg but also dislocating his shoulder with the force. He screamed louder and Joker moved behind him to slide his hand beneath Sal's chin to tilt it up as he held another blade to his throat, causing him to stop suddenly. Sweat ran down his face as he panted through his nose, jaw tight and eyes still on the camera.
"Who killed Alberto Falcone and Luigi Maroni, Sal?" Joker asked uncharacteristically calmly.
Tears welled up in Maroni's eyes, stripped of his reputation, he felt degraded, humiliated. The legitimacy of his position as head of the Falcone clan would be shattered and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Joker had taken what was most important to him and singlehandedly crushed it. Just like Harvey Dent.
"Me!" Maroni cried out. "Me!... I did," his voice falling to almost a whisper.
Joker licked his lip and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling before he said, "Good boy." The knife only nicked his skin before Joker suddenly let go of him.
He casually walked toward the camera and said, "Well, there ya have it folks!"
Maroni stared at him, slack jawed as Joker turned around to face him with a grin pulling at his scars. He took the camera off of the tripod and pointing it at Maroni as he said, "Say goodnight, Sal!" before laughing as he switched it off and put it in his coat pocket.
Nora smiled at Joker as he approached her. They'd been through so much. Blood, sweat, and tears didn't even begin to cover it. As painful and depraved and disarrayed as it all was, she was glad that this was where she ended up. Her heart fluttered and without thinking about it, she took his hand in hers. He smirked at her and lifted her hand in his to kiss it before they silently headed toward the door.
"Hey! What the fuck is this? HEY!" Maroni shouted after them as the lights flicked off and door shut.
Nora couldn't keep the smile from her face as they left the building and made their way down the street where Enigma was waiting with the car. Joker reached into his pocket and took out a remote detonator then stood behind Nora to tuck her against his chest, wrapping her fingers around it.
Maroni screamed into the darkness in the basement where he once held her hostage as Nora and Joker pressed the button and his club went up in flames.
Songs for this chapter: Hysteria and Space Dementia by Muse
Thank you for reading!
Reviews welcome as always!